How have our childhood friendships informed who we are today? Alex speaks with Jen Trollman & Lauren Embry on the definition between childhood versus lifelong friendships, reflect back on lessons learned from early childhood relationships- like how to navigate conflict, and they discuss how growing up as Girl Scouts gave them tools to navigate adulthood successfully today.

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Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

Alex shares her story of battling COVID-19 and how her friends helped her fight and survive. A solo-episode that dives deep into the experience of illness, recovery, and remote support.

Alex interviews her sister Nicki about the friendships she's made through online gaming. Despite never meeting in real life, incredibly strong connections are made over hours of gameplay. Nicki Yee describes the close bond formed with her gaming friends, what it's like to be a female gamer, and shares tips on how to stay safe online. Connect with her on Instagram @yeeitznicki

Show notes:

• Intro to Nicki- game animator & developer
• How her gaming friendships began from coworkers and friends she's met in person
• Meeting new people through online gaming
• Making memories in gameplay
• What it's like to be a female player, having to deal with a lot of sexism and toxic masculinity
• What it was like to meet an online friend "in real life"
• Gaming friends are perfect while sheltering-in-place
• Nicki spends 4-5 hours everyday hanging out with her gaming friends
• How these friends became like family to her
• Gaming friends are real, supportive, and close friends- despite what stigmas there may be

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Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

Can guys and girls really just be friends? Explore this question and more with Khanh and Alex as they discuss the trickiness of balancing healthy platonic relationships, taking risks, establishing boundaries and more! See what Khanh is up to on IG @superkhanh 

Show notes:

• Intro to Khanh Ly
• Definition of platonic friendships: friends where there is a potential for you two to be attracted to each other & a potential for a relationship or something more than just friends or acquaintances
• Can guys and girls be just friends? Yes!
• Khanh’s journey in finding the people he could be his most authentic self with. He found he could connect with people on music, musicals and Disney. Many of these people were female. He shares his struggle in feeling pressured to be more masculine and talk about basketball, cars and sports. 
• Importance of finding others who allow you to be your authentic self, no matter what gender they are
• Social standards of masculinity: cars, skateboarding, sports, etc. 
• “I longed for less of the people who liked the same things as me, but more people who are willing to talk to me about the things that they liked, freely, without judgement or anything like that”
• Perks of platonic friendships: Being himself, free, silly, and feel comfortable to hang with
• Not discounting friends because of their gender. Everyone we meet makes us who we are today
• Challenges when one person wants to be more than friends
• Importance of being clear when telling someone your feelings have changed towards them into something more than friends
• Be kind and understanding when someone expresses their feelings towards you. It’s ok to not be on the same page
• Evaluate whether it’s worth the risk to change the friendship
• Ask yourself questions about your feelings: What is it that you like about this person? Pause and reflect before acting
• Acknowledge what you have control over and what you don’t
• How do romantic partners understand your platonic relationships?
• Transparency on both sides and addressing feelings is key
• As the platonic friend, what can we do to respect our friends’ partners?
• Importance of setting boundaries: what you are willing and unwilling to do. Sometimes friends can come first above romantic partners
• Keep learning, even as we fail, press on!

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Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

Alex sits down with her childhood friend, Amy, to discuss her college friendships and the life-long bonds created by experiencing a transformative time in life together. Amy shares how her large group of college friends came to be so close, even after 13 years. From college dorm rooms to wedding alters, Amy shares tips on how to maintain healthy relationships with friends, how to navigate disagreements, breakups, and moving distances. She encourages us to make memories with friends, whether via a big vacation or by simply sharing meals. And emphasizes the importance of being open to new people, being true to yourself, and not putting too much pressure on yourself. You can find her in Instagram @amyygator.

Show notes:

• Intro to Amy Sutjahjo
• Alex and Amy’s childhood history and living together
• Amy’s social circles: high school, college, family, husband's friends, professional friends.
• College is a transformative time. Lots of freedom, close proximity in dorms & cafeterias
• Close proximity & consistency makes building memories easier. Takes a bit more time to make sure to continue making memories despite some distance.
• Alex has a different relationship with her college friends because of lack of proximity & consistency post-college
• Bonding through dorms, partying, dining hall, library, gym, and guitar hero.
• Value of inclusive behavior among single and coupled friends
• Developing strong bonds with each person in a group is important and can lead to differences of opinions, but it’s important each person comes to their own conclusion.
• Larger groups of friends invite diverse personalities, which cause  disagreements sometimes
• Importance of treating each other with mutual respect despite opposing opinions
• There doesn’t have to be a dramatic change in defining the change of the relationship (for friends). Sometimes it’s ok to let friends change as your life changes
• How Amy’s friends gave her the room to form her own opinion about a particularly “unhealthy” friend
• How to be considerate when a friend-couple breaks up, and how to split time, and communicate clearly
• Pressures of “picking sides” after a breakup can be present, but it depends on each person’s individual relationship/ friendship
• Value of “going through life together”, celebrating milestones, and helping each other through tough times.
• Amy’s 10 year vision for her and her friends: homes, children, pets
• Whether Amy and her friends plan on having kids at the same time. It would be nice, but depends on peoples’ preferences.
• Amy’s scenario planning for how to hang with friends while balancing childcare
• Final advice: find people with similar core values, people that you feel comfortable with, and feel like you can be yourself around. 
• Make memories together, whether taking a trip, or eating fast food and chatting for hours- memories can be created in so many different ways. 
• Reminders to not put too much pressure on yourself, know yourself, and figure out who you trust. Be open to different types of people.
• Importance of laughter in friendship

Please consider submitting a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. This helps me tremendously! And even better, subscribe and share with a friend.
 
 Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

An episode for all relationship statuses! Rebecca Waterbury and Alex speak candidly about the importance of friends during seasons of singleness, how to steward your single time well, how to balance jealousy, feedback, and self-doubt, as well as how to resolve and prevent conflict with open communication, the importance of honest friends & self-care, how to get through 2020, staying in touch through social media and being vulnerable. They also discuss how to intentionally create diverse relationships that help us grow. Becca is currently working in the financial space with a mission to liberate love for single people, deplete divorce and strengthen marriages through building strong financial foundations for families and individuals. You can find her on Instagram @rosecoloredlove.

Show notes:

• Intro to Rebecca Waterbury
• Becca’s mission: To celebrate love and lift up strong relationships
• Her experiences led her to work in the financial industry where she helps families and individuals build a really strong financial foundation
• Importance of living life with passion, mission, and purpose
• Social circle: Mom, Bestie/Roomie, and Boss Babes 
• Making friends from common interests/activities
• Importance of having friendships with people in different seasons of life to learn and grow from
• Balancing jealousy with being a supportive friend
• How to steward your single season by spending time with friends and doing what you love
• “The grass is greener where you water it” It’s time to invest in our grass
• Dangers of assuming how well other people are doing and being jealous of it
• Self-reflection and shifting our relationships and values through uncomfortable change
• Importance of relationships in surviving 2020. Friends are our lifeline- how we reconnect and strengthen friendships during this season.
• Photos are physical reminders of the people who love us and stand in our corner. 
• Maintaining evenness - asking “What’s going on with you?” too.
• Sharing the bad moments too & power of vulnerability- invites friends to check-in
• Importance of open and clear communication. “The power of making situations better relies on us…take the responsibility, be accountable,… talk about it”
• Becca’s story of Gorilla Glue & a growing moment
• Lessons from friends can be applied to our future romantic relationships
• Friends sometimes call us out, and help us process through things taking away our “luster” and “shine”
• Importance of self-care, processing, and pushing past fear 
• How Becca got her sparkle back
• True friends correct us out of love & tell us the truth- but it must be discerned. We also need to be open to receive the correction
• Becca’s innate capacity to love demonstrated by the Little Mermaid
• Becca’s new business and her heart’s mission to liberate love for single people, deplete divorce and encourage strong marriages through building strong financial foundations for families.
• Last thoughts: Be the kind of friend that helps people get to where you’ve gone, and also have friends above you to help you go where they are. Seek friendships with people who have what you have, and learn from them. Befriend those who want what you have so you can also pay it forward.

Please consider submitting a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. This helps me tremendously! And even better, subscribe and share with a friend.
 
Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

Joining me for the FIRST OFFICIAL EPISODE is one of my best friends, Allyson Yuen. We talk about her experience of moving to 8 different cities throughout her life and what it was like to make new friends, find new support systems, and navigate loneliness and rejection. She gives us encouragement on the importance of being true to yourself, being vulnerable, and giving yourself a break. Allyson shares practical tips from her own life and speaks words of truth over what it means to be human.

Show notes:

• Intro to Allyson
• Where she’s moved to and what inspires her to start fresh
• Three stages of friendship: establishing, maintaining, and re-engaging
• Loneliness is one of the biggest challenges of moving to a new city
• Humans are social creatures, we all seek human connection
• Benefits of pushing past comfort zones, loneliness and rejection to find new friends
• Importance of being true to your self, genuine, authentic, and vulnerable
• Maintaining a positive attitude despite difficulties & getting outside of our own heads
• How her competitive spirit helps her make friends
• How getting comfortable with being uncomfortable helped her grow
• Reminders to be kind to yourself, take the pressure off, and be open to new experiences
• Lastly, what Allyson looks for in a good support system: shared levels of investment

Please consider submitting a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen. This helps me tremendously! And even better, subscribe and share with a friend.

Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co

Learn all about the new Racy Friendship show!
 A show about the twists, turns, highs, and lows of friendship told through radically authentic conversations. In each episode, host Alex Yee, sits down with a friend to discuss how to be come better friends, and nurture healthier, more life-giving relationships.
 
In this trailer episode, get to know who Alex is, hear what inspired her to start the show, and what she hopes it can do in the world. This episode also includes teasers to the voices you'll hear on Season 1 of Racy Friendship.
 
 Connect to the show
Instagram: RacyFriendship
Website: www.racyfriendship.com
Email: racyfriendship@gmail.com

Music on the show provided by: Podcast.co